Killing Mr McLean
by AnyfriendofMike's
Summary: It started out as a harmless prank. After all, McLean was asking for it. But when Duncan, Mike, Zoey, Anne Maria, and Lightning take things way too far, things get very interesting... Based off of Lois Duncan's Killing Mr. Griffin.


"Watch out!" cried a sharp voice. Zoey Anderson turned around to see Mike Lawson (**A/N It sounded like a good last name for him…)** sprinting past her, desperately grasping at several pieces of paper that had been picked up by the breeze. She spotted a piece at her feet and stomped on it to make sure it didn't blow away. When she picked it up, she noticed that she had left a rather large footprint on it.

"I'm sorry, this page got…er…ruined…." Zoey said to the dark hair teen, who had appeared at her side.

"Ugh, doesn't matter…" he murmured in response. "The rest of the papers got away. Mr. McLean won't accept only this paper…"

"Was it the Ophelia assignment?" Zoey asked him.

"Yeah. But McLean probably would've given me an F anyways. Well, thanks for trying…" Mike said, turning on his heel and walking into the school. Zoey, who was disappointed that he hadn't invited her to walk with him, followed with her shoulders sagging.

"-is gonna make you repeat this class for sure!" Zoey heard Lightning Grant exclaim to Mike as she entered Mr. McLean's classroom. Mike sighed.

Zoey glared at the jock. He was leaning on Mike's desk, blocking the aisle.

"Excuse me," she said. If he heard her, he didn't show it.

"Excuse me!" she said a little more impatiently.

This time, Lightning turned to look at her, amusement clearly in his eyes. "Are you sha-trying to get the Lightning's attention?! Sha-please girl, you couldn't get the attention of-"

"Just let her get through, meat head," the expressionless Duncan Greene muttered. Lightning shrugged and slid into his seat behind Mike. As the redhead passed, Anne Maria Jordan looked up from her cellphone and made a face. _What a loser!_ She thought.

* * *

Soon, the rest of the seats were taken. A few seconds before the bell rang, Mr. McLean walked into the classroom and set his briefcase on the front podium. McLean was never late, or absent for that matter. Nope, he was always there, glaring at them in his dress shirt, crisp khaki pants, 5'oclock shadow, and windswept looking hair.

"Good morning class," he said in a voice that suggested that he was not happy to see them at all. A chorus of "Good morning Mr. McLean" filled the air. "Please pass your Ophelia assignments to the front."

Zoey saw Mike raise his hand. With an annoyed look, McLean said, "What is it, Mr. Lawson?"

"Sir, my paper got blown away by the wind this morning. I'll redo it tonight."

"I never accept late papers, Mr. Lawson. Mr. Grant, you have an excuse as to why you do not have your paper as well, I presume?"

"Well, yes!" Lightning exclaimed. "There was a sha-game last night and I didn't have time to write the Ophelia-paper-thingy!"

"Whether or not there was a 'sha-game' last night is not an adequate excuse. If you have time for extracurricular activities, you have time for homework."

"But sha-sir!" Lightning protested.

"No excuses! If you cannot complete your assignments when they are due, you should not be able to have them accepted later."

"Mr. McLean, I didn't understand the assignment," Anne Maria said.

"I suggest you raise your hand next time, Ms. Jordan. And if you didn't understand it, why didn't you ask me for a conference?"

There was no answer for that.

McLean eyed the students one by one. "Any other comments? No? Then all those who actually completed their paper, pass them forward."

_At least we don't have to present them…_ Zoey thought. _I think my paper sounded pretty lame…_

"Now, please open your books to the first scene in Act Three," McLean instructed.

"Sir, you should sha-accept our papers even if they're late!" Lightning burst out.

"Mr. Grant, I thought I made myself clear before," Mr. McLean stated firmly.

"But it's not sha-fair!" Lightning argued. "We should be allowed to make it up! Other teachers don't even assign homework on game nights! Last year, Mrs. Lewis-"

"What Mrs. Lewis teaches under her own policies is not relevant. My policy is that no student is allowed to turn in papers late, and that is that."

"Even if we turned it in on time, you'd give it an F! All the papers we get back are so marked up, it looks sha-like the damned thing was stabbed to death!"

"Papers aren't alive, you idiot," Noah Price said from the front of the room.

"W-Well sha-whatever! What does grammar, or spelling, or punctuation matter?! Sha-why does everything have to be so flipping perfect-"

"Cool it Lightning, you're gonna get in trouble…" Duncan said sharply. "Lightning's just overexcited, Mr. M., but I agree. Most of us are seniors, and we're gonna need this credit to graduate."

"Sha-damned right! You're gonna sha-make most of us get knocked straight out of graduation! It's sha-not fair! All we need is this one sha-lousy credit!"

"Well then you better start studying to make sure that doesn't happen, Mr. Grant," McLean smirked. Then, he slipped his hand into the pocket of his khaki pants, took out a small bottle of pills, and popped one into his mouth.

"Now," he continued. "Turn to Act Three, scene one. You are capable of doing that, aren't you Mr. Grant?"

"Yes sir…" Lightning said through gritted teeth.

As she flipped through her book to find the page, Zoey heard Lightning mutter under his breath,

"That McLean's the sort of guy you'd like to kill…"

* * *

"Why don't we?" Duncan asked, taking a sip of Mountain Dew. There was a moment of silence that passed through the group of teens sitting in the booth of the local burger place.

"Why don't we sha-what?" Lightning asked, crunching a potato chip.

"Why don't we kill McLean?" Duncan said easily.

"Kill him? For sha-real? You're crazy!"

But Lightning knew that Duncan wasn't kidding. There was a special glint in his eyes when he had said that. And yet, would Duncan actually have the nerve to do it? It wasn't just a rumor that Duncan had a criminal record a mile long. But to kill someone? That's just going too far!

"You're crazy!" Lightning repeated, taking a bite of his hamburger.

"But we could do it!" Duncan said with a look that was close to eagerness.

"You've sha-got to be kidding!"

"Oh really?"

"C'mon man, you've _got_ to be!"

"Of course he is," Anne Maria said firmly, taking a moment to stop spraying her hair with hairspray. "You can't just kill a teacher because he's mean. That's just weird! And weak."

"But it would solve a lot of problems!" Duncan snapped. "Lightning nearly dared McLean to fail us right there and then in front of everyone!"

"Sha-alright, I admit that was pretty stupid-"

"Even for you!" Duncan added.

"Whatever. He was just making me so mad! That Ass has been on my back since the first day of school! Everything I write gets an F! That guy is getting on my last nerve!"

"He's like that with everyone. Even the smartest people in class get it. If Mrs. Lewis were the one teaching us, she would've gone over it, making sure I understood it!" Anne Maria said.

"Oh please. I'm the one who got the crappy end of the deal. Remember last year?" Duncan said bitterly.

"Oh sha-yeah. He made you beg to let him allow you to retake the class. And the principal was there behind him, nodding his head."

"Damn right. I'm not taking that frigging class again. Can you imagine taking his shit for a _third_ year?! I'd never survive."

"Psh. Sha-McLean can do anything he sha-wants to. And he knows it! He can flunk us right now and the principal would give him the okay!"

"I seem to remember you suggesting something before," Duncan reminded him. "You were sitting here for ten minutes talking about how you wanted to kill the guy. So why not?"

"You serious?" Anne Maria asked skeptically.

"Let's talk somewhere else," Duncan said. "Too many people are in here. They're bound to hear us. Then, they'll probably snitch on us."

"But I'm not done with my drink!" Anne Maria complained.

"Then meet us out in the car," Duncan said, collecting their trash and dumping it in the bin. Anne Maria, who was determined not to miss this conversation, hurried to finish the drink. "Who's paying?"

"I-I'll sha-do it," Lightning said, slapping some bills down on the table. His mind was racing. Could Duncan be serious? Were they actually going to go through with this?! As they raced through the parking lot to the car, Lightning wondered if Duncan was going to laugh and write the whole conversation off as a joke.

But part of him wanted to do it. Part of him wanted to see the bastard begging to live just like he made Duncan beg.

Once they were safely in the car, Lightning continued the conversation.

"So what's your plan? How are we going to do this? And don't lie, I know you really aren't planning to actually _kill_ the guy. Even you aren't that twisted," Lightning grunted.

"McLean doesn't know that," Duncan smirked. "What I'm planning to do is scare the crap out of him. Even McLean values his life. Maybe if we scare him just enough, he'll lay off of us."

"So, what, we write him a threatening note or something?" Anne Maria suggested.

"Nah. If we write a note, he won't take us seriously. He'll think it's some prank. No, we need to do this face to face."

"You mean go to his house?"

"Too risky. I think he has a wife, too. We're only trying to scare him. Plus, we don't want her walking in on it."

"So sha-what should we do then?" Lightning asked impatiently.

Duncan waited for total silence, then said, "We kidnap him."

"Huh?"

"Listen, we take him up to the mountains, and really screw him up! We'll show him what it's like to be the one on the ground getting the crap. Make him crawl, you know? What do you say?"

"I don't know…" Anne Maria said uncertainly. "It's risky…we could get in a whole bunch of trouble…kidnapping is a serious offense, isn't it?"

"What if he doesn't know who's doing it? Why don't we put a blindfold over his eyes? He'll never know who's doing it."

"But wouldn't it be a little obvious that it's us? I mean…after that stuff in the sha-classroom, he's bound to know that we're the ones doing it."

"So what? He won't have any proof that it's us. Plenty of people hate him, and plenty of people would be willing to do it."

"But if we botch this thing-"

"Big deal. We're all minors. We're still a bunch of kids playing a harmless prank on our dear teacher. Kids do it all the time."

"He's right," Anne Maria admitted. "Last year we blindfolded Mrs. Lewis and took her to IHOP. It was just a prank, and she was laughing the whole time."

"But they didn't threaten her," Lightning pointed out.

"So?" Duncan asked. "There was no trouble, and no hard feelings. Look, if you're too chicken to do it, just say so. I know plenty of other people who would do it. The only reason I'm telling you this is because you're my closest friend, but if you don't have the stomach to do it, I'll find someone."

"_I'm_ not too chicken," Anne Maria said. "I was just worried that we'd get in trouble. But it sounds foolproof."

"Good. Lightning, what about you?" Duncan pressed.

"I…Sha-yeah…Let's do it…" Lightning said.

"Terrific. Now, we're going to need alibies. People who can lure McLean into our trap without him suspecting anything."

"What about Cameron and Harold?" Anne Maria suggested.

"Nah, those guys are blabbermouths. Nah, I say we pick Mike Lawson."

Anne Maria frowned. "He'd never do it."

"I think so," Duncan smirked.

"He's the president of the senior class!" Lightning exclaimed.

"Look, I know Mike better than you do. Mike likes a challenge. I know he'll do it," Duncan said.

"Well, no one would expect _him_…" Anne Maria agreed. "He's a good kid…"

"So are _you_ babe," Lightning said fondly. "The perfect combination of hot and popular."

Anne Maria blushed uncomfortably. "So, is Mike the decoy?"

"No way, I've got the decoy all picked out. Zoey Anderson."

"Sha-who?" Lightning asked blankly.

"Ew, she's that little creep with the red hair. Oh Duncan, you're so funny!" Anne Maria laughed.

"Nope, I'm dead serious," Duncan said confidently. "She gets the best grades in the class. Plus, she doesn't even hang out with us. No one would tie us together."

"I still don't know sha-who she is. True, she doesn't hang out with us, but how are you gonna get her on board?"

"Mike can do it."

"Sha-Mike? How?"

"Zoey has a huge crush on Mike," Anne Maria offered. "It's pretty obvious. She stares at him like he'll actually look at her. It's pretty sad, really."

"How do you notice that?" Lightning asked. "Sha-okay, I can't even remember what she looks like. Fine, I can believe that she's crushing on Mike. But that how do we know she'll sha-go along with it? If McLean is giving her B's and A's, she might not have any bad feelings about him. Sha-hell, she might even _like_ him."

"Nope. She's used to getting straight A's. When she gets a C or something on a paper, she balls it up and stuffs it in the trash. If Mike shows an 'interest' in her, she'll do anything for him."

"Pft, how do we know that Mike will agree to pretend to like that loser?" Anne Maria scoffed.

"Hey, Mike's a weird kid. He might even like her for real!"

"Gross," Anne Maria commented.

"How do you sha-know all of this stuff?" Lightning asked in awe.

"I know things. I observe things," The delinquent shrugged. "So are we going to do it?"

Lightning remembered the first time he met Duncan.

_They were in the same sixth grade class. Back then, Lightning had already hit puberty. When the teacher called his name for attendance, his voice had responded like a deep bass. The class had giggled at him, and even the teacher laughed._

_Lightning hated himself for that. He blinked back tears, feeling like a huge freak. Then, he noticed a strange kid with a green Mohawk studying him. Lightning looked away, then looked again. The boy was still staring._

_When it was lunch time, Lightning stayed behind for a while shuffling his papers. When at last he had the courage to leave, he found the boy with the Mohawk waiting for him at the door._

"_You get mad easily," the boy remarked, walking next to Lightning as if they were friends. "You bottle things up, and that's not good."_

"_Who do you think you are?" Lightning had snapped. "I've never seen you around here anyways."_

"_The name's Duncan," the boy said. "I'm new here. And you're Lightning Grant."_

"_How do you sha-know that?" _

"_I listened at roll-call. I'm good at remembering names. Plus, with a name like Lightning, you're hard to miss. Hey, I'm gonna do something interesting after school. Wanna come?"_

"_What are you gonna do?" Lightning asked, seeming interested despite himself._

"_Do you like cats?"_

"_Not sha-really."_

"_Neither do I. And I'm gonna do something with a cat. You coming or what?"_

"_I don't know…" Lightning had said. "You're not gonna hurt it, are you?"_

_The boy's face was filled with an innocent, yet sinister look._

"_You'll see…" Duncan smirked._

"_Where are you going to do it?"_

"_Behind the school where they keep the garbage bins. I'll be there at three thirty."_

"_O-Okay…I'll sha-be there…" Lightning promised._

Now, years later, those eyes had the same look.

"Okay, why not?" Lightning finally responded.

"Great!" Duncan said. Anne Maria cheered and gave Lightning a hug.

"This'll be fun," she said. "Like a game. You know, when my dad was in school, he and a couple of buddies stole a horse from a farmer's pasture and put it in the girls' restroom. He still laughs about it- the way the girls ran out the the bathroom the next morning screaming!"

"We'll remember this the same way," Duncan said. "We'll tell our kids about it. McLean squirming, begging us to spare his life."

He had a serious look on his face, one that concerned Lightning. He still wasn't sure if this was the right decision, but there was no way he'd cross Duncan.

And there Duncan sat with the faint glow of a trouble maker. Lightning had first recognized it back on the day he had met Duncan right before Duncan had set the cat on fire.


End file.
